Lawne

Formed in 2019, Lawne is the result of a meeting of minds between old friends and self confessed music nerds Joe Nicklin and Joe Martin. Their sound draws upon myriad influences with dub, electronics, hip hop, psych, jazz, post-punk and Afrobeat all somehow ingrained within the mix. Comparisons to Mildlife, Nu Genea, Harvey Sutherland and Khruangbin wouldn’t be far off the mark, but such contemporaries form only part of the duo’s sonic soundscape as Fela Kuti, The Beach Boys and Herbie Hancock also weigh heavy on their repertoire, as Joe Nicklin explains:

“I had been working mainly as a live session drummer for a few years and missed being able to get my teeth into a project of my own, collaborating and building something that reflects my influences from the ground up. I knew Joe (Martin) a bit from home in North Oxfordshire but we reconnected after both moving to London and decided to start sending ideas back and forth shortly after. Originally we set out to make dance music with live instrumentation, but a shared love of psychedelic, jazz-funk and hip hop eventually saw our music also reflect these styles.”

Joe Martin goes on, “I’d been engaged on a solo electronic project for a few years but soon began to miss working collaboratively and writing music with instruments rather than creating solely on a laptop. I knew Joe from home and when he asked if I wanted to get together to make some music, it seemed like the perfect time. We’ve spent the last couple of years exploring different sounds and trying our best to work outside of our comfort zone; listening to a wider range of material as well as incorporating that into our own music.”